The Missing Life of Jeptha

Born in 1787. Died in 1864. That is all. There's not one record of anything inbetween for John and Lucy's fourth son, brother of Ichabod, Marshall and John.  Not a scrap of information that he was even on the roll of the early census when the count was determined by the number of  Free White Males living in a household.

At the time of his death at age 77, Jeptha surely would have been buried near someone in his family even if he had never married or fathered any children.  He was one of nine children....five younger than he, and with many nieces and nephews who as family tradition dictated took care of old uncles.

Gone But Not Forgotten for old Jeptha, did not seem to be written on any tombstone, either.  Instead it seems he was 'Gone and Forgotten' for his name does not appear in any of the cemeteries that were the final resting places of his family.  There are several that bare his family name and Mount Carmel Methodist Church Cemetery where his parents are buried on land donated by his brother Daniel for the church and cemetery.

So for Jeptha, we will have to be satisfied knowing that his early years were lived much like his brothers, and he grew up with the same values and good intentions for living a Christian life with the idea that he too would marry, have children and grandchildren and be buried in a family plot.  Most likely all of that did happen for Jeptha.  However, there is always the possibility that a completely unforeseen turn of events sent him down a different path...at least at the end of his life.  It was, afterall, during the Civil War.

The one bit of information that hints at the possibility of his death being related somehow to the Civil War is the place of his death....Whitfield County, Georgia.  Whitfield was a hotbed of  skirmishes  in 1864 from January through October, and Whitfield organized almost 20 outfits of Infantry, Volunteer and Guard Units.  Even at age 77 Jeptha could have been in one of the Home Guard Units or a Volunteer fighter at the Battle of Buzzards Roost or the Battle of Nickajack Gap.  Perhaps one day, another scrap of information will be found, and the missing life of Jeptha will be found.  Until then...

Rest In Peace, Uncle Jeptha in your virtual cemetery beside your parents at Mount Carmel.

You may be Gone but You are Not Forgotten in Tracks of My Georgia Ancestors...for as I continue to say....

"Every person in your Family Tree is 'Significant In Time' for there is no such thing as a life not meant for the person living it."

Your 4th Great niece from Texas

Beaver Dam Creek Land Grant Leads To Soldiers Fortune

With his casualty discharge papers and 'Land Grant' abstracts in hand, John Ichabod made his way home to Kiokee Creek.  Waiting for him there were his mother, sisters, and Lucy Eunice Marshall. 

In time, after recovering from his wounds received on the battlefield,  John traveled to Franklin County and his Bounty Land Grant of 287.5 acres on Flat Creek which later was known as Beaver Dam Creek.  He filed his Grant with Franklin County, and the original is now in the Georgia Dept. of History and Archives.

John Ichabod and Lucy Eunice were married in 1781, two years after his discharge.   There is some question as to the place they were married as some records indicate they were married in Richmond County, near Kiokee Creek where both of their parents resided in 1781.  Another source claims they were married in Windsor, Connecticut where Lucy was born, and where she and her father the Reverend Daniel Marshall had relatives.

During the first year of their marriage, at least, they resided in Richmond County where their first son, Ichabod Byrd was born.  By 1783 the couple had moved to Franklin County, presumably having established a home on the Bounty Grant land.  Their second son Marshall was born in March 1783 in Franklin County.  A year later a third son, John was born, but records show him as born in Gwinnet County.

Again, Franklin County Records indicate John sold some of the Land Grant acreage to neighbors, and as late as 1821 his name is associated with land transactions of Beaver Dam Creek, although his name does not appear on the Extant Tax Lists.  Finally in 1821 and Executor's Deed gives a new boundary for the John Pittman Property and is granted to the descendent of one of the early neighbors.

In 1788, John is recorded as a Magistrate Judge in Richmond County which confirms the change of residence as early as 1784 when son Marshall was born.   It is known that he later sold his Bounty Land Grant property in Franklin County along with other land in Washington and Wilkes Counties and moved to Gwinnet County between Pinkneyville and the Chattahooche River. A Ferry across the Chattahooche River was called Pittman's Ferry and Pittman's Crossing on the Southern Railroad was well known.

After son John, the rest of the Pittman children were born in Gwinnet County.   Altogether, eight sons and one daughter were born to the union of John and Lucy Pittman.  They spent the rest of their lives in Pinkneyville, Gwinnet County, and at the time of his death, John Ichabod was one of the richest men in the state of Georgia.  He resided with his son Daniel N. at the time of his death on December 12, 1831.  Lucy Eunice died ten years earlier on October 17, 1821.  It is believed they were both buried in The Pittman Cemetery near Pinkneyville.  However, their gravesites are in question and therefore, their Find A Grave Memorials are registered at The Mount Carmel United Methodist Church Cemetery in Norcross, Gwinnett County, Georgia.  A rather ironic twist of fate for a Baptist Preachers Daughter and  the son of a Baptist Deacon.

Fourth Great Grandfather A Continental Freedom Fighter

Headquarters, Savannah, Georgia 19th August, 1778
The first Battalion is ordered to march to the western frontiers, as soon as possible; those in Savannah must be sent to Augusta immediately, and Lt. Colonel Harris will give the necessary directions for having the remainder who are to the southward marched after them. As the laws of self preservation will justify the measures, such of that battalion who are prisoners of war are ordered to be armed, for the purpose of securing helpless and innocent women and children from the scalping knife of the bloody allies of the British King.
By order of Commander Colonel Samuel Elbert
2nd Georgia Battalion, Continental Army

From: The Collections of the Georgia Historical Society Vol. V. part 2 Order Book of Samuel Elbert, Colonel and Brigadier General in the Continental Army, Oct. 1776 to Nov. 1778

The order given by Brigadier General Elbert for the 2nd Georgia Battalion to be sent to Augusta immediately, set into motion Private John Ichabod Pittman's march into battle against the British King and his bloody allies.   As a soldier under the command of Colonel Elbert and Captain George Hancock, it is probable he saw action at The Battle of  Kettle Creek, a major encounter in the back country of Georgia, near what would become the Pittman Plantation in Wilkes County.  That February 14th of 1779, the Continentals decisively defeated and scattered a Loyalist force that was on it's way to British-controlled Augusta. 

The 2nd Georgia Battalion under Col. Elbert met the British again in the Battle of Brier Creek.  On the afternoon of March 3, 1779, the Continental Army camp was warned of the approaching British, and hurriedly deployed about 900 troops with a short supply of ammunition and varying muskets.  They finally arrived at Brier Creek and positioned their troops in the center formation with a North Carolina regiment to their right and a large gap and the river on the left.  The British engaged with long range artillery forcing the Americans to split ranks and advance into the British Calvary and foot soldiers armed with bayonets.  Outnumbered and armed with only muskets, the Patriot Militia broke and ran without firing a shot.  The North Carolina regiment fired a few shots and then abandoned the fight.  Col. Elbert's 2nd Georgia Battalion held formation in the center while the militia around them fled for the swamps, and were eventually surrounded, forcing Elbert to surrender.  Two hundred of his re-enforcement troops arrived too late, and withdrew before getting caught in the surrender.

In the aftermath, the British counted five dead and eleven wounded.  The devastation of the Americans was never fully tallied, as many militiamen retreated all the way back to North Carolina, and an unknown number drowned in the swamps.  The British claimed that 150 American bodies were found on the battlefield, and 227 captives were taken, mostly from Colonel Elbert's Continentals.

Several months after the Battle of Brier Creek, Private John Ichabod Pittman's name was among the names on the 'Casualty List' in Augusta.  The extent of his injuries is not known, but he survived and  was among the Pittman Revolutionary Soldiers to receive land grants for their service in the Sons of Liberty Militia and the Continental Army.  He was discharged in September 1779 as a result of his injuries.

John Ichabod Pittman  was 28 years old at the end of his service in the Continental Army.  He lived a long and prosperous life on the 287.5 acres from the land grant and other Georgia land he bought and sold throughout his life.   His descendants continued to farm and raise families on those properties as well as continued to serve the State of Georgia, the Confederacy, and the United States Armed Forces in World War I and II. 

The Colonial Period for Tracks of My Georgia Ancestors has been a genealogy dream come true with the discovery of  Fifth Great Grandparents John and Mary Polly Rowe Pittman.  The events of their lives in conjunction with the historical events of their time has enriched my knowledge and appreciation for Colonial America, The Revolutionary War, the History of Georgia, and my Ancestors.  

"Yesterday the greatest question was decided... and a greater question perhaps never was nor will be decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states."
John Adams, Letter to his wife, Abigail Adams, July 3, 1776

Pittman/Carroll/Marley Family Tree on Ancestry.com

 ~ Public ~ Membership required to view.

John Ichabod Pittman, Jr. Profile...HERE

Revolutionary Soldiers Monuments

Erected A.D. 1967

In Loving Memory of

Soldiers of the Revolutionary War

John Pittman 4th Art. ACG. S.C.

SONS

Bunckner - VA. Troops

John Jr. 2nd Bat.

James - Lt. GA.

Phillip & Timothy

*****

WAR of 1812

John Green Pittman

Maj. 53rd Bat. GA. Militia

*****

Sarah Christian Pittman

James Gresham Maddox

Guard Andersonville Prison CFA

*****

Chas. Wm. Gresham Maddox

Clara Melissa Stark

by Maddox Descendants

 

 

Bronze Marker of the United States Daughters of the War of 1812

Secured through the efforts of great-granddaughters of James Greene Pittman.

Honoring John Pittman and Sons - Revolutionary War

James Greene Pittman - War of 1812

Erected in the Pittman Cemetery ~ Madison County Georgia

John Pittman - 5th Great Grandfather

John Ichabod Pittman -4th Great Grandfather

James Greene, Buckner, Phillip and Timothy Pittman - 4th Great Uncles

John Green Pittman - 1st Cousin 5xRemoved
 

"We have therefore to resolve to conquer or to die. Our own, our country's honor, calls upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion; and if we now shameful fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us then rely on the goodness of our cause, and the aid of the Supreme Being, in whose hands victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble actions. The eyes of all our countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the tyranny mediated against them. Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world that a freeman contending for liberty on his own ground, is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth."

George Washington - General Orders, July 2, 1776

Millicent's Son ~ Minister of the Scriptures

Throughout the early history of my Colonial Georgia Ancestors, Religious Freedom played a significant role in their lives beginning with their migration from the Virginia to Georgia. Passionately devoted to the early Baptist Separatist Theology, the sons and daughters of John and Mary Polly Rowe raised their children in the same vein of what would prove to be a dominate force in their spiritual and daily lives.

So it would be for John and Mary's grandson, Elisha Coleman.  Elisha was born four years to the month after the death of his grandfather John, and although he didn't experience his  grandfather's passionate Baptist beliefs, he was strongly influenced by his mother, Millicent, John and Mary's fourth daughter.

Elisha was born on April 2, 1789, the fourth child of Jonathan and Millie Pittman Coleman.  His older siblings were brothers Charles born in 1786, and Jesse and Joseph who from all indications of their birthdates were twins.  Elisha would become the older brother to fifteen younger siblings among them another set of twin brothers

His parents were founders and Charter Members of The Bark Camp Baptist Church in Burke County, Georgia on land that once was hunting and grazing land of the Indian Nations.  After the Indian Treaty of 1763 people moved into the area in large numbers.  The church was organized in 1788, even before George Washington was elected president.  It was a center of worship, culture and hospitality in one of the oldest settlements in Burke County. 

Elisha remained a faithful member of Bark Camp Church for 52 years.  During those years, his father Jonathan was buried in the churches cemetery along with his older brother Charles.  His mother Millicent, would join them in a matter of years.  His calling to the ministry in 1841, moved Elisha and his family to Emanuel County, Georgia where he joined the Old Canoochee Church.  After a few years of his service there, he went on to build his own church in Swainsboro, Emanuel County Georgia on land surveyed by and deeded to Elisha's older brother Charles Coleman.  Charles had obtained a grant from the state of Georgia and deeded a part of the tract to Nathaniel Daniels who in turn made a deed to the church dated October 16, 1849.  The Hawhammock Baptist Church continues to be an active part of the community today.

His obituary stated:  The church has lost her brightest light, and the county one of it's best citizens, ever ready to lend the helping hand to the needy and distressed.  His theme was to hear and expound the Scriptures.  ~The Christian Index, Feb. 13, 1861~

Reverend Elisha Coleman died on October 30, 1860 and was buried in a cemetery named in his honor, Elisha Coleman Cemetery in Swainsboro, Emanuel County, Georgia.  His life and service are well documented in Georgia history, and now in 'Tracks of My Georgia Ancestors'.  Reverend Elisha Coleman's branch in our family tree puts him as 1st cousin 5x removed.  His mother was my 4th great aunt, sister to my direct ancestor and 4th great grandfather John Ichabod Pittman, Jr.

Elisha's mother, Millicent 'Millie' Pittman Coleman's story.

Colonial Daughter Raised In The Revolutionary War

Colonial Daughter Raised In The Revolutionary War

From the day she was born until the day she married, Millicent 'Millie' Pittman lived in the turmoil of the Revolutionary War.   Born February 3, 1766 to John and Mary Polly Rowe Pittman, her birth coincided with the much anticipated Repeal of the Stamp Act.  Her father and brothers along with other Virginia colonists, were actively involved in the Sons of Liberty and the resistance to the British Taxation without Representation.

The following month of her birth  in March, the Stamp Act was repealed by the British Parliament.  The colonists victory was short lived, however, when Parliament  followed the repeal of The Stamp Act with the Declaratory Act of 1766.  This act provided the British with a broad mandate to impose laws, and taxes on the colonies as it had done with the Irish in 1719.  The Declaratory Act of 1766, along with other imposed tax acts in the following months drove the American Colonists closer to the Revolution.

In 1784 with the Revolutionary War officially over and the Treaty of Paris ratified by Congress, Millie married Private Jonathan Coleman of the Burke County Georgia Militia.  At thirty-four years of age, Jonathan was sixteen years older than young Millie when they married.  Her youth, however was in her favor as she gave birth to 17 children over a period of  30 years.  Of those births there were two sets of twins. 

Millicent and Jonathan lived most of their lives in Burke County Georgia where they were known for their devotion to their family and their church.  They were charter members of the Bark Camp Church organized in 1788, before George Washington was elected president. 

Both Jonathan and Millie are buried in the Bark Camp Church Cemetery.  Jonathan died at age 74 on January 13, 1825 and Millie at age 72 on December 30, 1838.  Their oldest son Charles is buried there as well.  He died in 1831.

Their son Elisha Coleman followed in his parents faithful Christian life and became a minister.  He was a member of the Bark Camp Baptist Church until 1832, when he moved to Emanuel County and began his ministry in 1841.  Some years later he built Hawhammock Church and remained there until his death in 1860.

He is buried in a cemetery named after him, Elisha Coleman Cemetery in Swainsboro , Emanuel County, Georgia.

 

Millicent 'Millie' Pittman Coleman was the only daughter of John Pittman NOT mentioned in his 'Will'.

Colonial Daughter's Dowry 100 Acres of Cherokee Land

I give and bequeath unto my well-beloved daughter Patty Pittman 100 acres of land in Wilkes County.

Martha Patsy, referred to as Patty by her father, was the sixth child of John and Mary Polly Pittman.  She no doubt was very close to her parents, having been with them until she was thirty years of age. 

She was likely the one to care for her mother after the Torries attack on their home while her father and brothers were off fighting on behalf of the Sons of Liberty during the height of the Revolutionary War.  The Torries ransacked the log cabin and Mary Polly was thrown from the porch while defending her home and children.  She suffered a broken hip which left her a cripple for the rest of her life.  Patty was about fifteen at the time.

On April 9, 1791, at the age of 31, Martha Patsy Pittman married David Langston and brought to the marriage her dowry of 100 acres in Wilkes County.  Wilkes county was unique among the early seven counties in that it was formed from land ceded in 1773 by the Creek and Cherokee Nations in the Treaties of Augusta.  With it's location on the Savannah River, it was considered prime land, and the owners were fortunate indeed. 

Patsy and David Langston spent most of their 47 years of marriage in Georgia.  They had four children with the oldest Etheldred born in Virginia in 1796, and Mary, Isaac and Frances born in Georgia in  1797, 1892 and 1803 respectively.

David died on Christmas Eve, 1838 at the age of 75 and is buried in Cherokee Corner Cemetery in Oglethorpe County, Georgia next to his daughter Mary who died at the age of 25 in 1822.  Her headstone inscription an eerie prediction...

The debt of natures paid.

My grave you see:

Look: reflect, and prepare

To follow me.

John Pittman's beloved daughter Patty, outlived all but one of her children,  and all but one of her siblings. Her death was recorded in Madison County, Georgia Death Register with cause of death listed as Old Age.  She died in March 1850 at 90 years of age.  She was laid to rest beside her husband, daughter Mary and daughter Frances who died in 1825 at age 34.  Martha Patsy's son Isaac died six years after his mother at age 56.  Records indicate that Martha Patsy and David had only one grandson by their oldest son Etheldred.

Daughter Mary's Tombstone's inscription may have set the tone for the those who followed all to quickly.

Colonial Daughter Weds for Love

Mary Ann had the typical Colonial upbringing with two older brothers and an older sister, Lucy. She followed in her sisters footsteps in learning the domestic lessons of colonial girls and was herself a big sister to seven younger siblings. This meant that she was well prepared for becoming a wife and mother when the time came for what she hoped would be marriage for love...unlike her sister Lucy's somewhat arranged marriage.

She knew Lucy was fond of Peleg.  He was a fine man, and would be a good provider, and their children would be the links for two closely tied families to be joined together for many generations to come.  With Lucy's marriage, Mary would be free to look for love in a union that would also be blessed by her parents.  By the age of twenty years old, Mary Ann had not found true love.  Little did she know that true love would come from tragedy and a family obligation she once thought was not hers to fulfill.

In the aftermath of her sisters tragic death, Mary Ann, her parents John and Mary, and the youngers were in a state of shock and devastation.   The mourning was twofold for the bridegroom to be, Peleg Rogers.  He had lost his future wife and mother of his children, and it was his fault she was dead.  He was seriously wounded, inconsolable, and bent on revenge.  Mary Ann's nursing and compassion for Peleg touched him deeply.  Her admiration and respect for him grew into something more as he recovered.

It would be eight years of courtship before Mary Ann Pittman and Peleg Rogers would marry. 

Revenge for the death of Lucy was first and foremost on the minds of Peleg and Lucy's brothers Buckner and John along with many of the Colonial Sons of Liberty.  Despite his mourning and injuries, the next month after Lucy's death, Peleg gave a rousing and passionate speech on behalf of the Virginia Sons of Liberty to the First Continental Congress.  His personal tragedy and the attempt on his own life by the British, added fuel to the already outraged colonials over the British Crowns Proclamations and Intolerable Tax Acts levied against the Colonies.

In the following years, Peleg and Mary Ann would be caught up in the Colonials Pre-Revolutionary War events and support for the Continental Congress during  1774-1775.  With Patrick Henry's "Give me Liberty, or give me Death", the Virginia Sons of Liberty were thrown into the beginning of the American Revolution.  John Pittman and sons, Buckner, John Ichabod, James Greene, Phillip and even young Timothy served in the Virginia, Georgia and Kentucky Regiments. 

Lucy's memory and Mary Ann's promise to wait for him sustained Peleg Rogers through the war.  In March of 1781 with the adoption of the Articles of  Confederation, and the surrender of Cornwallis, Peleg and the Patriot Colonists were hopeful the end was near.   One year later the Preliminary Articles of Peace set the stage for the Treaty of Paris which formally ended the American Revolutionary War in 1784.

 In May 1782, Mary Ann Pittman became the wife of Peleg Rogers.
They married for LOVE.

A historically based creative writing...Mary Ann and Pelegs love story based on family history research.